Google’s self-driving vehicle arm Waymo has announced it is to launch a pilot programme in Atlanta using self-driving trucks carrying freight that is bound for Google’s data centres.

Waymo announced the news last week, saying that the self-driving truck operations will begin this week.

Until recently the Google company has been road testing self-driving trucks in AZ and CA. Now the new plans give it a more ‘real-world’ flavour of using the vehicles in anger in GA.

According to the Waymo team: “Atlanta is one of the biggest logistics hubs in the country, making it a natural home for Google’s logistical operations and the perfect environment for our next phase of testing Waymo’s self-driving trucks.

“This pilot, in partnership with Google’s logistics team, will let us further develop our technology and integrate it into the operations of shippers and carriers, with their network of factories, distribution centers, ports and terminals. As our self-driving trucks hit the highways in the region, we’ll have highly-trained drivers in the cabs to monitor systems and take control if needed.”

Uber Freight has been testing similar vehicles in Arizona, while a driverless truck startup Starsky Robotics has recently raised Series A funding. Starsky has announced it ran a test in FL where a truck operating with its autonomous technology negotiated its way along a closed-circuit route, without any humans in the cab.